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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Excerpt, Giveaway and Review! Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter

I've been reading the Jane Yellowrock series for years now. The vivid nature of the characters and and world never ceases to draw me in. While there are many, many side characters that would make for excellent spin offs, I'm exceptionally happy that Nell is the focus of this new series. Come learn a little more about Faith, and the new adventures she has for us.

About Faith Hunter:

Faith Hunter, fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. She writes three Urban Fantasy series: the Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock, a Cherokee skinwalker who hunts rogue vampires. The Soulwood series, featuring earth magic user Nell Ingram. And the Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban, post-apocalyptic, fantasy series featuring Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage. (There is a role playing game based on the series, ROGUE MAGE.)

Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action-adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Faith and Gwen, she has 30+ books in print in 29 countries.

Hunter writes full-time, tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for travel, jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV, traveling with their rescued Pomeranians to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

The door opened before Rick knocked and a woman stood there. She was dressed in dark slacks that had been tailored to her; it was fine, delicate work, the kind the best church seamstresses did on the side, to supplement their incomes. White shirt, gray sweater, her hands fisted in her pockets, dragging down the sweater in front. Her hair was brown with blond streaks, and pulled back into a short ponytail. She looked jittery and shaky, and I could see the effects of tears on her skin, long hours of tears, and stress, and worry. Her skin was the pale white of undeath. This was a vampire.

Vampires had crossed my land before, and I remembered the feeling that had crawled over my flesh of death, death everywhere, but that was on my land, my wood, where every sensation was intense, dazzling to my senses, and I hadn’t been prepared for that. Here, I had been prepared, but the vampire didn’t spend time in the yard. The house would be a different matter, but—I took a stabilizing breath—I was ready.

THE SAC flashed his badge and ID and said, “Mrs. Clayton, I’m the Senior Special Agent with PsyLED. These are my team members. I called earlier about your daughter’s disappearance. Do you mind if we come in?” It was all official-like, until he added, “I’m a were-leopard, as are two others of my team. Will our scent be a problem for you, ma’am?”

***************

Set in the same world as the New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock novels, an all-new series starring Nell Ingram, who wields powers as old as the earth.

When Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she was almost alone in the world, exiled by both choice and fear from the cult she was raised in, defending herself with the magic she drew from her deep connection to the forest that surrounds her. Now, Jane has referred Nell to PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency policing paranormals, and agent Rick LaFleur has shown up at Nell’s doorstep. His appearance forces her out of her isolated life into an investigation that leads to the vampire Blood Master of Nashville. Nell has a team-—and a mission. But to find the Master’s kidnapped vassal, Nell and the PsyLED team will be forced to go deep into the heart of the very cult Nell fears, infiltrating the cult and a humans-only terrorist group before time runs out…

Jax's Thoughts: I love a book that can show my more about the character through dialogue than prose. One of the best ways to do that is dialect, in my opinion. Faith Hunter has some of the best dialogue in the business. She has a way of writing that lets me hear the cadence of different dialects. Not just that a person is from the south, but that they are from the bayou versus the mountains. It adds a lovely richness to her work. Sure, there are parts of the prose that will give me that back story, but often it's merely a confirmation of what their speech has hinted at. It's a good part of what draws me into each Jane Yellowrock tale, and what captured my attention in Blood of the Earth.

As does the mystery of what Nell's magic actually is. Much like Jane in the beginning of her saga, there is clearly some history to Nell's abilities that even Nell isn't aware of. Throughout this book, you'll see Nell make some startling discoveries about the world, her past, her powers and her opportunities for the future. I'm looking forward to the journey she undertakes to find her answers, and herself. Nell has an interesting blend of innocent curiosity, sharp intellect and jaded weariness. Rick LaFleur and his worldly PsyLed team make an excellent contrast. They take great joy in sharing modern marvels with her, things not inline with her strict upbringing. In turn, she teaches them that more traditional methods aren't necessarily useless or obsolete.

All in all, this is a great start to a new series. It stands well enough on it's own that you don't need to read the Jane Yellowrock books, but you should because they're awesome and it'll give you a better insight into the world Faith Hunter has built. It's a place of darkness and beauty, with some wondrously complex characters.

Thanks for hosting this blog stop! I love your review! I love the Jane Yellowrock series, and am very excited to start the Soulwood series. I'm not a writer, so I don't think about the technical parts of writing, so When you mentioned dialogue and cadence, it made sense. You really can tell where the different characters are from by the way they talk. Faith has created a world that you feel you are a part of, and I'm looking forward to Nell's story!

Health Note

I've got a shoulder injury, the exact nature of which my doctor is still determining. But it's affecting my ability to type. So posts will be delayed, and comments on other blogs, as well as my own, are on hiatus until typing is less painful or not painful at all.

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